Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

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47 was great, Capn. The only problem was the fact the 1v1 Joust fights seemed a bit too luck-based. There couldn't be much strategy in them, so I really just kept buying Meads and Nostrums and healed myself when need be. Perhaps you could've had some rabid fans jumping out of the bleachers to help their favorite jouster or something? The Boss was really fun, though.

Not so much luck. But it was really fun. Especially the side quest.

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I loved Quest 44, Sandy, thanks for having me. I really enjoyed the variety of enemies and cool drops, as well as the many revelations that took place including the identities of the six current veterans. It even offered some unexpected roleplay opportunities, which was a plus.

I know that towards the end, you were a little frustrated that some of us had been too passive. I know I hadn't really taken much action, but at the end I was unsure of what to do. I was waiting for CK to distribute the loot and then I would follow everyone else in the temple, but it seemed like you wanted more. Sorry, I wasn't aware of that.

One gripe I do have is that even with 17 heroes, 24 hours should be more than enough time for everyone to post their actions. When 48 hours or more passed without an update, the quest felt very slow. My suggestion would be to just go ahead with or without everyone's input after a certain amount of time, based on what the active heroes did say.

You did do that a little with Scubacarrot in particular, but unfortunately he seemed like the only active one in a timezone close to you, so the slowness in that regard was kind of unavoidable. I also realize that you don't have time to sit at the computer 24/7.

Also, to the heroes of Quest 44: I was very impressed with the new players' ability to "fit in", if you will, among us older players. I'm glad none of you were really passive or inactive because you felt ineffective, and I hope you don't feel discouraged because we might have paid less attention to you in battle. It was simply not worth it to revive a low-level hero, I hope you understand. At least you got some good loot and I hope all of you continue playing Heroica.

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As a spectator, Quest 47 did seem a little slow, but I think that was caused by the one-on-one battles. The participants might not have been playing slowly (I didn't actually check the timestamps), but their actions in the one-on-one battles were at times so predictable because there was only one enemy (see also Docken's comments in the first duel of Quest 7) that updates didn't seem to add much to the quest. I did like the concept, though, and I think everyone in Quest 47 kept the quest moving at a good pace. I would've added some sort of extra mechanic to the jousts, to make the actions less predictable and less reliant on lucky rolls of the die.

Quest 44, on the other hand, seemed to move along quickly, even if it was actually taking a while, which I think was because there was simply so much going on. I will admit that, at times, the sheer amount of actions caused me to just skim the summaries of Rounds instead of paying close attention to the results of each die roll, but at the same time, all that action made it feel like there was a lot more happening than in normal quests. (which there was) I really enjoyed every bit of the story and the information about Eubric and the Veterans that was revealed, and the quest didn't seem like a series of giant brawls despite the number of heroes. Great job by Sandy to handle such a huge party.

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Thanks for the compliments on Quest#44. I thought it was about time for the main storyline to move forward and for the players to get to know who the mysterious Veterans were, and how they were affecting the events from the background. The story of Sküld and Shaun was just a backdrop to all of this, but I thought it was a rather good way to get all the exposition through.

I admit the quest could've gone much quicker, since it was just three battles in total, but the sheer amount of players on it made it slow down, since I wanted to give everyone a chance to add their input. Some players "dropped out" without ever saying so during the quest, but Chromeknight was a clever enough party leader for the last battle to post their actions for them. I really wanted to test out the limits of this game system on how many players would it be possible to take into a quest, but after this experience I still recommend all QMs to stick to the maximum of 8 players for one quest.

This evidently wasn't just any quest, though. There will be more "main story quests" in the future that will include big parties, but I will have to find a way to better manage them before that.

Thanks to everyone who participated and watched from the sides, I really hope you all got more motivation for sticking with Heroica RPG from the quest!

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I admit the quest could've gone much quicker, since it was just three battles in total, but the sheer amount of players on it made it slow down, since I wanted to give everyone a chance to add their input. Some players "dropped out" without ever saying so during the quest, but Chromeknight was a clever enough party leader for the last battle to post their actions for them. I really wanted to test out the limits of this game system on how many players would it be possible to take into a quest, but after this experience I still recommend all QMs to stick to the maximum of 8 players for one quest.

I echo all the praise, it was an enjoyable, beautifully presented quest.

Especially the ways the battles were varied to prevent a lucky assassin OHKOing the whole opposition.

Of course, I would have loved an extra battle or two (so close to an advanced class!)

And I am glad I didn't overstep in posting actions for absent heroes, it's always a fine line to judge.

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I too very much enjoyed how some of the new players were some of the more active ones. It was great to watch and nice to see how it is possible to make quests for both advanced classes and Level 1ers, even though, perhaps, not ideal. Very nicely done, Sandy!

I think some people could have tried to post more often and for a quest with that many heroes, I was expecting a bunch more pages, but all is well!

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Sandy, Quest #44 was amazing! It was the first one for me and as such an introduction to Heroica system which is simple and enjoyable (I have played many (mostly pen and paper systems in the past Fallout, Drakensang, Vampire... but most of all D&D)) and I really like it. Like most of those I listed, Heroica too seems to be evolving as time goes, and all the things I've seen change are good. Also, all the quests I've glimpsed at (no matter the quest master) looked good.

Back to the Quest #44, the story of the quest was great, much deeper then the simple search for a missing person, and the only problem (and not a large one at that) was the speed, but taking into account the sheer number of players it was inevitable. The thing that I liked most, and I don't know how many people are aware of this, is the fact that you made a quest very enjoyable (even playable if you will) to both low and high level players at the same time, and that was no easy task I am sure. I have to give special praise to our leaders for an excellent job they did!

I look forward to playing, and enjoying Heroica's quests for quite some time! This is form a long time RPG player and fan.

P.S. Sorry if this was off topic a bit, but I tried to blend impressions of a quest and the whole system into one post...

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Thanks for the great Quest Sandy! I loved all of it, and it provided many role-playing opportunities for a lot of people. I really am grateful that I'm able to be a part of these landmarks, such as the Dastan trilogy, and the first Main Quest. I, like others, think things could've gone quicker, perhaps by only giving 24 hours for people to post, before moving on without them. Maybe a bit harsh, but it would've moved the Quest on a bit faster.

One question, why did Cinna recognise Bluto, but not Thothwick?

This evidently wasn't just any quest, though. There will be more "main story quests" in the future that will include big parties, but I will have to find a way to better manage them before that.

Ooh? When is the next one?

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Thanks for the great Quest Sandy! I loved all of it, and it provided many role-playing opportunities for a lot of people. I really am grateful that I'm able to be a part of these landmarks, such as the Dastan trilogy, and the first Main Quest. I, like others, think things could've gone quicker, perhaps by only giving 24 hours for people to post, before moving on without them. Maybe a bit harsh, but it would've moved the Quest on a bit faster.

One question, why did Cinna recognise Bluto, but not Thothwick?

Ooh? When is the next one?

I agree.

Perhaps Darkdragon PM'd Sandy about it during the riot battle? I looked at the pictures when I was looking for the identity of The Falconer, and Bluto was indeed among them in the background...

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Sandy. What can I say? You started the game and remain the master of it. 44 was superb in every way. I have peppered praise throughout the entire course of your hosting the quest... but I'll try to surmise it here. The Norns were awesome, the inclusion of the veterans superb, the Dragon was a great inclusion, and I'm glad we got to continue with out of the longest story-lines of Heroica (the Ziegfrieds and their curse). What wasn't to love?

Guts is a superb character, Nerwen really shone, and I have to say of all the newbies, Thalion really caught my eye. Can't wait to see what those players (and everyone else) continues to contribute. I was also pleased to see Benji develop a little - he's always seemed sort of quiet to me, but his choices in this quest, along with his clashes with Guts, really started to define him!

Edited November 17, 2012 by Zepher

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Sorry for not being very active in Quest 44, I tried to be at first, but the updates removed all my post options, so if I wanted to change anything I had to type out the code. And doing that over and over, especially since I didn't know the code for the fonts and font colors I typically used, was really a "turn off" to posting. I tried to keep it up, but without being able to role play all my plots I kind of lost interest. I have the red code saved now, so I should be able to save.

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Sorry for not being very active in Quest 44, I tried to be at first, but the updates removed all my post options, so if I wanted to change anything I had to type out the code. And doing that over and over, especially since I didn't know the code for the fonts and font colors I typically used, was really a "turn off" to posting. I tried to keep it up, but without being able to role play all my plots I kind of lost interest. I have the red code saved now, so I should be able to save.

Why not just turn the editing mode back on and not have to bother with BBcodes?

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Why not just turn the editing mode back on and not have to bother with BBcodes?

I think part of it has to do with the colors he's using not appearing in the text color menu, meaning he'd have to input it manually--or, as I do, I write out everything BUT my dialogue, then paste in a word that's already in the right color and use that as a "seed" for the color formatting.